Godzilla (2014)

The world is beset by the appearance of monstrous creatures, but one of them may be the only one who can save humanity.

Director:

Gareth Edwards

Writers:

Max Borenstein (screenplay), Dave Callaham (story) (as David Callaham)

Stars:

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston

6 wins & 31 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aaron Taylor-Johnson	...	Ford Brody
CJ Adams	...	Young Ford
Ken Watanabe	...	Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
Bryan Cranston	...	Joe Brody
Elizabeth Olsen	...	Elle Brody
Carson Bolde	...	Sam Brody
Sally Hawkins	...	Vivienne Graham
Juliette Binoche	...	Sandra Brody
David Strathairn	...	Admiral William Stenz
Richard T. Jones	...	Captain Russell Hampton
Victor Rasuk	...	Sergeant Tre Morales
Patrick Sabongui	...	Lieutenant Commander Marcus Waltz
Jared Keeso	...	Jump Master
Luc Roderique	...	Bomb Tracker
James Pizzinato	...	HALO Jumper

Storyline

In 1999, the Janjira nuclear plant was mysteriously destroyed with most hands lost including supervisor Joe Brody's colleague and wife, Sandra. Years later, Joe's son, Ford, a US Navy ordnance disposal officer, must go to Japan to help his estranged father who obsessively searches for the truth of the incident. In doing so, father and son discover the disaster's secret cause on the wreck's very grounds. This enables them to witness the reawakening of a terrible threat to all of Humanity, which is made all the worse with a second secret revival elsewhere. Against this cataclysm, the only hope for the world may be Godzilla, but the challenge for the King of the Monsters will be great even as Humanity struggles to understand the destructive ally they have.

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Plot Keywords:

godzilla | radiation | atomic breath | halo parachute jump | u.s. navy | 

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Taglines:

The king arrives

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of destruction, mayhem and creature violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Facebook [Brazil]

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

16 May 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nautilus

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$160,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$93,188,384, 18 May 2014

Gross USA:

$200,676,069

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$524,976,069

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Legendary Entertainment, Disruption Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Godzillas atomic breath is a less concentrated solid beam, that explodes like the 80s-2000s movies but more of a whispier heat wave, like the earlier Showa movies with him in it.

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Goofs

A suspension bridge is so called because the bridge is suspended from the huge supporting cables - but when the Golden Gate Bridge is attacked its cables are severed, yet the road deck doesn't collapse into the water.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Boyd: Dr. Serizawa? Jerry Boyd. I'm warning you, it's a mess. It's just a total mess. Monarch set me in this morning. Took a look around but I told them we need you.

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Crazy Credits

During the credits for Bryan Cranston, the rest of the text is redacted except for the words "Walter" and "White". Walter White is the name of the character played by Bryan Cranston in TV series Breaking Bad.

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Bryan Cranston/Brie Larson/Kevin Delaney (2014)

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Soundtracks

See The Way
Written by Barry Pointer, Dann Saxton, Coltan Fisher and Jason Rabinowitz
Performed by LikeWize
Courtesy of The Math Club
Under license by Music Asset Management, Inc.

User Reviews

Godly Presence of the Legendary Atomic Monster of Japan

Godzilla (2014) is a mediocre film that the filmmakers did not give the persuasive plot for why Godzilla appears and helps people from the Mantis-like MUTO which is quite familiar design among US sci-fi films. There is only one line of Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe)'s explanation for the cause that 'It's natural order.' It explained everything in the fictional reality world.

More over it is a pro USFJ film that the multinational nuclear plant corporate stationed worker Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston)'s son, USFJ soldier, protagonist Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) successfully revenges MUTO which kills his parent in Japan by detonating its nest. And other sub characters including Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) are one of observers of the battle between Godzilla and MUTO.

Beside the major plot flaw, the film's major success is that the filmmakers correctly avoid the lack of godly appearance / presence of the legendary atomic monster. If it is just a giant dinosaurs like Jurassic Park (1993), it is quite meaningless.

Godzilla is supposed be the Shintou the Japanese religion's god thus it should have the unimaginable power. The Western concept of Titan is harmonious with the Shintou concept of the Gods. The US filmmakers approach to the Godzilla in Godzilla (2014) and and other two Hollywood films are appropriate in terms of the Japanese culture. Moreover it is an issue of Defamiliarization of previous giant dinosaur films they have to overcome.

So called Defamiliarization or ostranenie is the artistic technique of presenting to audiences common things in an unfamiliar or strange way in order to enhance perception of the familiar.

The creature design concept of Titan-like Godzilla is not only obvious in the sequel but also the previous film Godzilla (2014) already materialised the creative concept. This is the most complemental achievement of this Hollywood franchise. "Primitive man saw these creatures, and you want to give them a presence that would make him drop to his knees and bow to this god...It can't just look like big dinosaurs. Jurassic Park has that covered. These have to be distinct. They have to be their own thing. They're Titans." - Dir.Michael Dougherty